After the state government sought relaxation in wheat procurement, the Centre has dispatched a nine-member team to assess complaints of lustre and yield loss, shrivelled grain and higher than specified moisture content in wheat caused by untimely rains, hail and high-velocity winds between March 29and April 8.The team led by PK Singh, Deputy Director in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, will visit the rain-affected districts, collect samples along with officials of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and state government officials.The samples will be analysed at regional or district laboratories of the FCI. Based on the findings, a consolidated report will be sent to the Union Ministry with recommendations and those of the India Meteorological Department.The Punjab Government had sought the Centre’s help in relaxing wheat procurement specifications to mitigate farmers’ losses and ensure that their crop was not sold below the MSP (Rs 2,585 per quintal). In Punjab, standing wheat crop has been damaged on 1.30 lakh acres of land.While the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has already relaxed the specifications for buying wheat in the BJP-ruled Rajasthan, which also faced similar weather patterns, the Punjab Government alleged that its concerns were “ignored”.Yesterday, the issue was reportedly taken up during a meeting between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi at Delhi.Sources in the Food and Supply Department said as wheat matures early in Rajasthan, as compared to Punjab, the central teams have already visited the neighbouring state, assessed the damage and announced relaxation in quality specifications.It may be mentioned that farmers, commission agents and officials involved in the procurement process have been complaining that the wheat arriving in the mandis has higher than prescribed moisture content of 12 per cent (as high as 15 percent in certain areas), besides grain suffering from lustre loss. Farmers have also been complaining that the yield would be less by 4-5 quintals per acre.It has been learnt that wheat samples collected recently by the state government, with the assistance of FCI, show a lustre loss of 60 per cent, besides broken and shrivelled grain.Ravinder Cheema, chief patron of the Arhtiya Association, said the Centre should also relax moisture content.